The Story That Couldn't Be Printed

This episode of John Nesbitt's THE PASSING PARADE tells the story of the Crown vs. John Peter Zenger case and how it was the basis of the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. It also established the rights of jury nullification, the right of a jury to nullify a law by finding a defendant not guilty of a crime he committed, which that jury holds to be based on an unjust law. It's an odd precedent, and judges and lawyers in court are barred from mentioning it; yet it is there in every criminal case.

THE PASSING PARADE was based on Nesbitt's radio work, in which he narrated a story, this, like most of the other entries in the series, was shot wild, without a soundtrack. Nesbitt's narration added later. Thus the series retreated to silent film techniques, in which a story had to be told visually.

Today, April 27th 2022 we have a government in power that advocates censorship by proxy using Facebook, Twitter etc., to silence dissent. That was not enough as we have Elon Musk opening the doors to all and have free speech for all. Frightened by free speech we now have a Department Of Homeland Security establishing a Governance Board of Disinformation. In other words Government sponsored Censorship.

The documentary starring Victor Killian hits the nail on the head of free speech and the first amendment and should be required viewing for every school child and even some university students that seem to have forgotten Zenger and free speech.